Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/117

 

USTRALIA or, the largest - of , is situated within and  , and  and. It measures 2500 miles in length from west to east, by 1950 miles in breadth from north to south, and contains an area of about 3,000,000 square miles—nearly the same as that of the, exclusive of. It is surrounded on the west by the, and on the east by the.

Sketch Map of Australia.

In the north it is separated from by, which is 80 miles broad, and from the  by  &thinsp;; while on the south , 140 miles wide, separates it from. The neighbouring of  lies 1200 miles opposite its south-east coast.

Owing to its position at the antipodes of the, Australia has been longer a terra incognita than any other region of the same extent. Its first discovery is involved in considerable doubt, from confusion of the names which were applied by the earlier navigators and geographers to the n coasts.

The ancients were somehow impressed with the idea of a Terra Australis which was one day to be revealed. The n mariners had pushed through the outlet of the to eastern, the , and the coasts of  and. But the geographer, in the 2d century, still conceived the to be an inland sea, bounded on the south by an unknown land, which connected the Chersonesus Aurea  with the promontory of Prasum in eastern. This erroneous notion prevailed in, although some travellers like  heard rumours in  of large insular countries to the south-east.

The investigations of Mr make it appear probable that the Australian mainland was known as &ldquo;Great &rdquo; to the  early in the 16th century; and the following passage in the Descriptionis Ptolemaicæ Augmentum of, printed at  in 1598, is perhaps the first distinct account that occurs of the country&thinsp;:—&ldquo;&thinsp;The Australis Terra is the most southern of all lands, and is separated from  by a narrow. Its shores are hitherto but little known, since, after one voyage and another, that route has been deserted, and seldom is the country visited, unless when sailors are driven there by storms. The Australis Terra begins at one or two degrees from the, and is ascertained by some to be of so great an extent, that if it were thoroughly explored it would be regarded as a fifth part of the world.&rdquo;}} {{ti|1em|It was in 1606 that {{9link|Torres}}, with a ship commissioned by the {{9link|Peru#Government|Spanish Government of Peru}}, parted from his companion {{9link|Quiros}} (after their discovery of {{9link|Espiritu Santo}} and the {{9link|New Hebrides}}), and sailed from east to west through the strait which bears his {{nowrap|name&thinsp;;}} while in the same year the peninsula of Cape York was touched at by a vessel called the {{nowrap|&ldquo;&thinsp;{{abbr|Duyfhen|Dutch: "Doveling" or "Little Dove".}}&rdquo;}} or {{nowrap|&ldquo;&thinsp;Dove&rdquo;}} from the {{9link|Netherlands|Dutch}} colony of {{9link|Bantam}} in, but this was understood at the time to form a part of the neighbouring island of. The {{9link|Netherlands#History|Dutch}} continued their attempts to explore the unknown land, sending out in 1616 the ship {{nowrap|&ldquo;&thinsp;{{abbr|Endraght|Dutch: "Concord".}},&rdquo;}} commanded by {{9link|Dirk Hartog}}, which sailed along the west coast of Australia from {{9coord|26|30}} to {{9coord|23|S}} This expedition left on an islet near Shark's Bay a record of its visit engraved on a {{9link|tin}} plate, which was found there in 1801. The {{nowrap|&ldquo;&thinsp;{{abbr|Pera|Dutch: "Perak".}}&rdquo;}} and {{nowrap|&ldquo;&thinsp;Arnhem,&rdquo;}} Dutch vessels from {{9link|Amboyna}}, in 1618 explored the {{9link|Gulf of Carpentaria}}, giving to its westward peninsula, on the side opposite to Cape York, the name of Arnhem Land. The name of Carpentaria was also bestowed on this vast gulf in compliment to {{9link|Peter Carpenter}}, then governor of the {{9link|Dutch East India Company}}. In 1627 the {{nowrap|&ldquo;&thinsp;{{abbr|Guldene Zeepard|Dutch: "Golden Seahorse".}},&rdquo;}} carrying {{9link|Peter Nuyts}} to the embassy in {{9link|Japan}}, sailed along the south coast from Cape Leeuwin, and sighted the whole shore of the {{9link|Great Bight}}. But alike on the northern and southern seaboard, the aspect of New Holland, as it was then called, presented an uninviting appearance.

An important era of discovery began with {{9link|Tasman}}'s voyage of 1642. He, too, sailed from {{nowrap|{{9link|Batavia}}&thinsp;;}} but, first crossing the to the {{9link|Mauritius}}, he descended to the 44th parallel of {{9link|Latitude|S. lat,}} recrossing that ocean to the east. By taking this latter course he reached {{9link|Tasmania|the island}} which now bears his name, but which he called {{9link|Van Diemen's Land}}, after the Dutch governor of {{9link|Batavia}}. In 1644 Tasman made another attempt, when he explored the north-west coast of Australia, from {{9link|Arnhem Land}} to the 22d degree of {{9link|latitude}}, approaching the locality of {{9link|Dirk Hartog}}'s discoveries of 1616. He seems to have landed at Cape Ford, near Victoria River, also in Roebuck Bay, and again near {{9link|Dampier's Archipelago}}. But the hostile attitude of the {{9link|Australia#Aborigines|natives}}, whom he denounced as a malicious and miserable race of savages, prevented his seeing much of the new {{nowrap|country&thinsp;;}} and for half a century after this no fresh discoveries were made.

The {{9link|England#Inhabitants|English}} made their first appearance on the Australian coast in 1688, when the north-western shores were visited by the famous {{9link|buccaneer}} Captain {{9link|William Dampier}}, who spent five weeks ashore near {{9link|Roebuck Bay}}. A few years later (1697) the Dutch organised another expedition under {{9link|Vlamingh}}, who, first touching at {{9link|Swan River}} on the west coast, sailed northward to {{9link|Shark's Bay}}, where Hartog had been in 1616. {{9link|Dampier, William|Dampier}}, two years later, visited the same place, not now as a roving adventurer, but with a commission from the {{9link|Navy|English Admiralty}} to pursue his Australian researches. This enterprising navigator, in the narrative of his voyages, gives an account of the {{9link|Australia#Flora|trees}}, {{9link|Australia#Fauna|birds}}, and {{9link|Australia#Fauna|reptiles}} he observed, and of his encounters with the {{9link|Australia#Aborigines|natives}}. But he found nothing to invite a long stay. There was  {{reflist|2}}